Promoting Our Cultural Heritage

Is it not shocking how Nigerians and indeed Africans cherish and celebrate the culture and tradition of the Western countries and turn around to ridicule our own tradition? Many of us accept every thing about the “oyibo” way of life, adopt it wholeheartedly without questioning their origin and significance but will denigrate everything Nigerian or African.
Last week, parents of pupils in many primary schools, particularly private schools in many states of the country were made to comb shops and markets in search of Halloween costumes for their children. Halloween was celebrated in many overseas countries and proprietors/proprietresses of our Nigerian schools considered it a thing of class and panache to key into the celebration. Research shows that Halloween is a holiday celebrated on the 31st of October every year. It is a tradition that originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain which has its roots in paganism.
It was believed that on the day of Halloween, the lines between the living world and that of the dead would get blurred. Hence the spirits would visit their loved ones. While some people prefer to decorate their homes and cook delicious dishes to welcome the spirits of their ancestors, they also try to ward away evil spirits by lighting bonfires and dressing up as demons and witches to avoid being recognised. Halloween has since evolved into a day of activities like trick-or-treating, caning jack, donning costumes, eating treats among others and is now celebrated by many countries across the world on the eve of the feast of All Saints, November 1.
The National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) both at the federal and State levels, the Federal Ministry of Culture and Tourism and other authorities, bodies and individuals that have played any role in promoting Nigeria’s culture and tradition must be commended. The increasing interest in putting on native cloth, making African hairstyles – braids and African weaving patterns are results of their efforts. The role of the Nigeria Movie Industry in selling Nigeria’s culture and tradition to the world must also be acknowledged.  But certainly, more needs to be done. There must be a conscious effort towards educating our young ones about the culture and tradition of various ethnic groups in the country. The curriculum of subjects like History and Social Studies should be beefed up to cater for that. The Federal Ministry of Culture and Tourism should periodically organise inter-state cultural competition and prizes given to the best performing states. A similar thing should take place at the state and local government levels. Still at the state level, communities should be supported to organise their cultural festivals – New Yam festival, Fishing festival, traditional boxing and many others.  These will not only help in the preserving and promoting our cultural heritage but address social ills and promote peace in our society. It is no news that the United Arab Emirate uses tourism to promote their region to the world. Israel is another country that benefits hugely from tourism both in the form of money and in the showcasing of their culture and history to the millions of tourists that visit their country every year. Who says Nigeria cannot do the same given the right environment? The Argungu Fishing Festival, the Calabar Carnival, the Port Harcourt Caniriv  are few examples of cultural activities that had attracted tourists from far and near in the past and people have been asking why much is not heard about them in the past couple of years. It is so gladdening that after two years lull, Calabar Carnival will come alive again this December.
Apparently, one issue that can impede tourism sector development and promotion of culture and tradition of Nigeria is insecurity. With the heightened insecurity across the country from the seat of power, Abuja, down to our local communities, the killings, kidnapping and what have you, how can people be free to engage in the various cultural competitions listed above? Which tourist will leave his country to visit Nigeria even when some countries’ embassies have shut down and evacuated their citizens because of insecurity in the country. Therefore, all hands must be on deck towards solving the insecurity problem in the country which is doing the country a great harm. Another argument is that with the high level of economic hardship in the country, the last thing on the mind of many Nigerians is the issue of culture and tradition promotion. But one way of promoting Nigeria’s culture that has nothing to do with either the economy or insecurity is encouraging the learning and speaking of our native languages. Observations show that many people no longer speak their dialects. Many parents, especially the educated ones, do not communicate with their children in their dialects and really do not care if their children speak their language or not. All they want is for their children to speak English and other foreign languages. Parents of different ethnic groups most times decide to speak a neutral language, especially to their children, thereby denying them the identities of their parents. Recent local and international reports had revealed that most Nigerian indigenous languages would be extinct in the next three decades, while about 90 per cent of them were projected to be replaced by dominant languages. The reports further disclosed that the percentage of children that speak local dialects is thinning down and may result in loss of our identity, our culture, our moral values and heritage.
The truth is that the English and other foreign languages we promote can never be our language. No matter how proficient you are in English and speak it with the English accent, you are not an English man or woman. You remain a Nigerian. Many of us spend thousands of naira to hire English and French teachers for our children, (which is not bad), how much do we spend to teach them their native languages which is their identity? The responsibility of rejuvenating our native languages, culture and tradition is not that of government alone. Parents, adults, schools and organisations have big roles to play. Our culture and traditions are our unique identity, we must not lose it. Who knows, maybe one Ekpo masquerade festival will be celebrated round the globe just as we celebrate Halloween in Nigeria every year.

By: Calista Ezeaku